Types of Interlanguage Phraseological Correspondences (Based on English and Turkish Languages)

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Abstract

Contrastive study of phraseology is important for general linguistic problematics, theory and practice of translation, interpreting lexicography and teaching foreign languages. We can state similarities and differences in phraseology of different languages based on current comparative studies. Many linguists use material of non-kindred languages in comparative studies. The objective of such researches is detection of both general features-universals common for any language and differential features typical for individual languages. The distinctive feature of phraseological units' correlation is that phraseological units are more complex than their components both by structure and meaning, it also should be mentioned the infrequency of the "form-meaning" relation. The objective of the paper is distinguishing and studying two phraseological groups of English and Turkish languages associated with the notion of "family" that, to the best of our knowledge, weren't studied before in each of languages separately and, particularly, in a comparative way. The study endeavors to correlate PU in both languages by basic parameters in order to define the universal and the differential, and also detect inter-linguistic equivalences and compensatory mechanisms in the area of difference.

Results of comparative study of PU contribute to distinguishing general and specific features of their structural models, detecting facts of one language system influence on the other, and also detecting regularities in PU translation from one language into the other.

Incentive for development of phraseological fund of any languages is productive process of formation of various modifications of PU. Linguistic literature offers different classifications of PU by the degree of equivalency.

There are several types of correspondences to imaginative phraseological units of the original. Phraseological equivalents are the first type of correspondences. When these correspondences are used, the entire complex of translated unit's meaning is preserved. In this case the translated phraseological unit coincides with the phraseological unit of compared language by all characteristics: "strike the iron while it is hot"-"K?? ?e?e?o, ?oκa ?op??o". However phraseological equivalents are few.

Phraseological units of the second type are so-called phraseological analogy. In this case the translation unit can be based on different image: "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"-"A titmouse in hand is better than a crane in the sky", etc. The use of such correspondence provides sufficiently high degree of equivalence. However, this type of translation is irrelevant when a phraseological unit has poignant national nuance in translating language. As a rule, translation conveys what is said by a foreign author of original text, and it would be strange if, for example, some English lord claims that you shouldn't "take your samovar to Tula" (carry coals to Newcastle) (Vinogradov, 2001).

The third type of phraseological correspondences is called zero equivalence or lacunarity. Translation of such phraseological units is made using calquing: "The grass is always greener on the other side of a fence". Calques make it possible to keep image of the original that is of prime importance in literary translation. Creating a correspondence-calque, the translator should be confident that the image of original unit is motivated enough and its reproduction in translation will allow the recipient of translation to understand conveyed figurative meaning (Zvegintsev, 1981). The following calked fixed phrase is clear enough: O? ?e?oc?o?? ? ?o?? ?acκa?? ??? ?ee (He is not fit to carry water for her), and foreign origin of the calque "c?a???? ?e?e?? ? …